Alright folks, time for another trip report from me this year (5th one actually..). We left on Friday, November 7th 2003, at 6:00 AM and left on November 10th 2003 at 2:25 PM.
I really expected the parks to be packed this weekend due to Super Soap Weekend, Festival of the Masters, and the Food and Wine festival, but suprisingly, they weren't! The most we waited was probably 25 minutes for The Haunted Mansion (and I'm guessing everyone wanted to see it because of the movies arrival on November 26th).
We arrived in Orlando on Friday around 9:30 in the morning, and went straight to the Mears shuttle. I must say, these drivers are either the most talkative or ERATIC people in the world. We were in a van for both pick up and departure and.. on the way to the hotel we had a driver who liked to cuss and call people cows. Kinda freaked me out.. the one on the way backed liked talking about all his stocks that he owned (Airtran, XM Satellite, Sirus...). BUT ANYWAYS. We arrived at our hotel (Best Western LBV) around I'd say 11:00 and since no rooms were avaliable at the time, headed off to the Studios.
We went straight to lunch at Backlot Express and I had (a number 2 I believe) chicken strips :slurp: . We continued on to ride TOT, RNRC, ST, and WWTBAM. We also went and saw Beauty and the Beast and the Haunted Mansion Movie sets. I was very dissapointed with the movie sets in that all you see is the ballroom and a video, in which pretty much all can be seen at your local Disney Store. We left the Studios, rode the boat over to Boardwalk and had dinner at ESPN club (reaaaaaaaaaally good).
Saturday, we went to AK and MK. Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park, so we didn't spend very much time there... did Dinosaur twice, Its Tough to be a Bug, Primeval Whirl, and Festival of the Lion King. We ate lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, and it was pretty good.
Took a bus to MK, and did POTC, HM, tea cups, COP, TK, and Space Mountain. We were a little bummed cus Philharmagic was broke down all day. We ate dinner at Pecos Bill and then went to go catch a good spot in the middle of mainstreet for Wishes (thank you Patrick for telling me where to stand). All in all, standing right dead center right by the times board is PERFECT. Only problem that night was that the speakers in that area were dead, and we could hardly hear the soundtrack.
But... I've heard it before :animwink: . Walked around the stores till 11 and then sat down in a not so crowded MK to watch SpectroMagic.
Sunday, we went quickly over to MK to catch Philharmagic which, I still believe is and amazing 3-D film, my favorite on property (and thats not just because it's new). We went to Epcot following that rode TT (really weird not seeing Kenan ) MS, Figment, Food Rocks (I hope its not the last time..), Maelstrom, The Lion King fable thing, and El Rio Del Tiempo. It was FA-REEZIN lol: ) Sunday.. I had to buy a sweatshirt.
All in all... we had a good trip. Our hotel was nice, but I will never ever ever stay there again. It lacked Disney atmosphere and it just didn't feel right.
Worst part: Downtown Disney busses have a TERRIBLE schedule. Not only are the schedules terrible but the bus drivers are rude and do not give a crap about you and how you feel in the bus. To all of you who complain about Disney Transport; I want you to stay at a Downtown Disney resort.. and experience what Disney Transport could be (thanks to people like Tyler, its not ).
Patrick- NEXT TIME! haha.. something always comes up... thanks for all your insight into where to see wishes. Only only about 2.5 months and I should be back down.
Pics are gonna be up soon
I really expected the parks to be packed this weekend due to Super Soap Weekend, Festival of the Masters, and the Food and Wine festival, but suprisingly, they weren't! The most we waited was probably 25 minutes for The Haunted Mansion (and I'm guessing everyone wanted to see it because of the movies arrival on November 26th).
We arrived in Orlando on Friday around 9:30 in the morning, and went straight to the Mears shuttle. I must say, these drivers are either the most talkative or ERATIC people in the world. We were in a van for both pick up and departure and.. on the way to the hotel we had a driver who liked to cuss and call people cows. Kinda freaked me out.. the one on the way backed liked talking about all his stocks that he owned (Airtran, XM Satellite, Sirus...). BUT ANYWAYS. We arrived at our hotel (Best Western LBV) around I'd say 11:00 and since no rooms were avaliable at the time, headed off to the Studios.
We went straight to lunch at Backlot Express and I had (a number 2 I believe) chicken strips :slurp: . We continued on to ride TOT, RNRC, ST, and WWTBAM. We also went and saw Beauty and the Beast and the Haunted Mansion Movie sets. I was very dissapointed with the movie sets in that all you see is the ballroom and a video, in which pretty much all can be seen at your local Disney Store. We left the Studios, rode the boat over to Boardwalk and had dinner at ESPN club (reaaaaaaaaaally good).
Saturday, we went to AK and MK. Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park, so we didn't spend very much time there... did Dinosaur twice, Its Tough to be a Bug, Primeval Whirl, and Festival of the Lion King. We ate lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, and it was pretty good.
Took a bus to MK, and did POTC, HM, tea cups, COP, TK, and Space Mountain. We were a little bummed cus Philharmagic was broke down all day. We ate dinner at Pecos Bill and then went to go catch a good spot in the middle of mainstreet for Wishes (thank you Patrick for telling me where to stand). All in all, standing right dead center right by the times board is PERFECT. Only problem that night was that the speakers in that area were dead, and we could hardly hear the soundtrack.
But... I've heard it before :animwink: . Walked around the stores till 11 and then sat down in a not so crowded MK to watch SpectroMagic.Sunday, we went quickly over to MK to catch Philharmagic which, I still believe is and amazing 3-D film, my favorite on property (and thats not just because it's new). We went to Epcot following that rode TT (really weird not seeing Kenan
) MS, Figment, Food Rocks (I hope its not the last time..), Maelstrom, The Lion King fable thing, and El Rio Del Tiempo. It was FA-REEZIN lol: ) Sunday.. I had to buy a sweatshirt.All in all... we had a good trip. Our hotel was nice, but I will never ever ever stay there again. It lacked Disney atmosphere and it just didn't feel right.
Worst part: Downtown Disney busses have a TERRIBLE schedule. Not only are the schedules terrible but the bus drivers are rude and do not give a crap about you and how you feel in the bus. To all of you who complain about Disney Transport; I want you to stay at a Downtown Disney resort.. and experience what Disney Transport could be (thanks to people like Tyler, its not
).Patrick- NEXT TIME! haha.. something always comes up... thanks for all your insight into where to see wishes. Only only about 2.5 months and I should be back down.
Pics are gonna be up soon
